gazing

I finally made it to Carlisle today, choosing an early train and leaving home before sunrise. The temperature was -2 degrees when I set off and it remained chilly for the rest of the day. 

No shopping today - I had three places to visit - the Cathedral, Tullie House and Bookends, all of them favourite places. 

The cathedral was quiet today. My blip shows the glorious starry ceiling :-)

At Tullie House there is an exhibition of paintings by Sheila Fell,  who was born in Aspatria. It's an impressive exhibition and well worth a visit. Tullie House is being renovated so only parts of it are open - this includes the Costume Collection, which I love - and the guide was sitting in a corner doing her stranded knitting. We had a nice chat.

Bookends (might have changed its name to Bookcase) is just an amazing bookshop, it has new books for sale, but also a warren of musty passages filled with piles of old books, maps and sheet music. You could get lost in there.

I caught an early afternoon train home to avoid the crowds.

A few extras included to give a flavour of the day.